Leading Ferrari might appear to be the pinnacle for many in Formula One, but French engineer Frédéric Vasseur has greater ambitions for sport’s oldest racing team.
“The pinnacle is if you win with Ferrari,” he told F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast last year.
Ferrari’s illustrious history weighs heavily. Juan Manuel Fangio, Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher are among the greats who have raced its famous red cars. But the team, which holds a record 16 constructors’ and 15 drivers’ championships, has failed to add to that tally since 2008.
Vasseur has grappled with learning Italian, though he has played down the significance being a rare non-native to take on the role. He has big shoes to fill. The first Frenchman to lead Ferrari was Jean Todt, who collected 14 of those world titles in an era of glory spanning the 1990s and the 2000s.
Ferrari’s passionate fans ensure that the pressure is unrelenting. But in just his second season in the role as the principal of Scuderia Ferrari, Vasseur has led the team back into contention for the prestigious constructors’ championship, which determines how prize money is divided among the teams.
After finishing first and second at the US Grand Prix in Texas last weekend, Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are pushing to catch Red Bull Racing and leaders McLaren Racing.
The team’s resurgence has fuelled a three-way title race with just five races to go, confounding expectations of another year of Red Bull dominance, providing the legions of new fans attracted through social media and Netflix series Drive to Survive with a gripping end to the season.
Vasseur took the job in early 2023, having held discussions with John Elkann, Ferrari chair and CEO of Exor, which owns a leading stake in the luxury car manufacturer and by extension, the F1 team.
“John wanted someone who would create a good team atmosphere. [Vasseur] has removed the blame culture that was undermining team confidence. He has the ability to attract good people,” said a person with the knowledge of Elkann’s thinking.
Vasseur also played an important role in convincing seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton to join Ferrari, after 12 years at Mercedes.
The Frenchman has known Hamilton, since his days driving in the junior race categories. Putting the sport’s most famous driver in a winning Ferrari would go far beyond creating a buzz at the team by attracting audiences and boosting sponsorship opportunities.
The lack of the team’s F1 success over the past 16 years has failed to dent sales growth at Ferrari. The luxury-car maker’s new €3.6mn F80 supercar already sold out at its launch, and the company is now the fourth most valuable carmaker with a market capitalisation of €86bn.
Nevertheless, a world championship victory would add further momentum to the brand, said analysts.
“It would be a phenomenal morale boost as well to the company. This is a source of pride and the lack of [F1] success in the past has been sorely felt,” said Bernstein analyst Stephen Reitman.
Vasseur was born in the southern outer suburbs of Paris in 1968. A karting crash put him off pursuing a career as a racing driver, and he studied aeronautical engineering at ESTACA, one of France’s grandes écoles, and graduated in 1995, the same year future Ferrari great Michael Schumacher won his second world championship.
He entered the world of motor racing in 1995, building engines for F1’s junior racing series and moving on to launching teams.
Nicolas Todt, the son of the former Ferrari team principal, has known Vasseur since they founded the French racing team ART Grand Prix together in 2004. Todt said Vasseur’s biggest strength is his analytical skill. “He likes to give opportunity to young people and he’s someone who likes to give space to people to try to show their worth,” Todt said.
Hamilton, who knew Vasseur before the British driver became a household name, has said his Ferrari move “really wouldn’t have happened without” the Frenchman.
Vasseur debuted in the F1 paddock in 2016 when Renault, making its F1 comeback as a constructor, recruited him as team principal. However, he departed after just one season due to differences of opinion with senior management and joined Switzerland’s Sauber in the middle of a season in which the team finished in last place.
Ferrari also provides engines for other F1 teams, and in 2022, Sauber, powered by a Ferrari engine, climbed to sixth in the standings, making an impression on Elkann.
Leclerc credits Vasseur with getting to know “every single individual” at Ferrari and bringing a sense of perspective to the team. In bad moments, Vasseur, known for his calm demeanour, re-motivates everybody with the positives, he told a podcast interview last year.
Whether or not Ferrari beats McLaren and Red Bull to the title this season, Vasseur must move swiftly to his next great challenge: integrating Hamilton into the team and preparing Ferrari for F1’s 2026 regulatory overhaul.
The sport’s new rules means teams must start from scratch with all-new vehicles and the real test for Vasseur will be whether he can oversee the creation of a winning car in a new era.
“The minimum target this season should be second place in the constructors’ championship and get the team ready to win championships from 2026,” said Paolo Aversa, professor of strategy at King’s Business School in London.
“He needs to build a high performing technical team that allows Ferrari’s drivers to compete for the championship, and in this regard we still don’t know where he stands.”
With Ferrari narrowing the gap with the leader McLaren, Vasseur will be hoping to make further gains this weekend in Mexico.
“Everybody is waiting for Ferrari to win again,” Nicolas Todt said. “It’s going to be something very big for motorsport, for Ferrari, for Italy and of course for Fred if Ferrari wins under his leadership.”